


Family Bonding

by AtowncalledMalec



Series: Tentacletober [9]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, malec - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Bonding, Communication, F/M, Fluff, Insecure Magnus, Other, Tentacles, reassuring Alec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 16:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20969885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtowncalledMalec/pseuds/AtowncalledMalec
Summary: When the consequences of Jonathan opening the rift to Edom arrive eighteen months later, Alec and Magnus once more step in to save the day. And there are a few surprises along the way.This work is not to be reposted anywhere else or translated without my permission.





	Family Bonding

**Author's Note:**

> I left the summary and tags a little vague on purpose so y'all could truly get a feel for the surprises. 
> 
> Prompt; #9 Surprise Tentacles.
> 
> Don't ask about that crazy word count. I didn't realize that this needed so much plot when I thought it up. Something a little bit special for my hundredth work on the Archive. Thank you all for getting me this far and here's to a hundred more!

Alec paced up and down the living room, having to fight the urge to bite his fingernails or huff with impatience. They had already been on the waiting list for months. One glance at the clock on the wall told him that they had also been waiting three hours longer than they should have.

Turning on his heel once more, Alec paused when he passed the kitchen. Magnus was in there, pacing just as hard as he was, a mostly full cup of freezing cold chamomile tea clutched in his hand. The fact that Magnus had made tea and not a stiff martini showed just how big this day was for them.

Magnus dropped his cup into the sink without a backward glance when his wards went off. Surging out of the kitchen, he nodded when Alec turned and looked at him wide-eyed.

“They’re here,” Magnus said, crossing quickly to Alec’s side. When Alec started tugging at the collar of his shirt and tried to lay his wavy hair flat, he took his husband’s hand in his own. “Relax,” he said, wishing he could take his own advice.

“Do I look okay?” Alec asked, still trying to lay his hair flat with his free hand. Until Magnus took hold of that one too.

Magnus’ heart melted a little bit. “You want to look good for her?” he asked softly. 

Alec just shrugged. Of course, he did. First impressions counted. 

“You look just fine,” Magnus said, squeezing Alec’s hand. His grown ass husband was adorable, fussing over himself like a six-year-old. Then a thought occurred to him. “Wait, do I?”

“You always look good,” Alec said, glancing around the living room. “Are we ready?” he asked shakily.

“They’ve been out and checked the place over, Alexander. Checked us over. I think it’s safe to say that the Inquisitor of The Clave and The High Warlock of Alicante are a safe bet. Dependable, respectable. Hell, respected. My younger self weeps for what I’ve become,” Magnus chuckled.

Alec knew what his husband was doing. Magnus was trying to hide his nerves and doubts behind a joke or two. He wasn’t fooled for a minute. Just as he was about to open his mouth and reassure Magnus, the sound of a loud, heavy knock on the front door announced the arrival of their guests. Or rather, guest. Only one of them would be leaving.

Magnus threaded his fingers through Alec’s, taking a deep breath and the small spark of energy that Alec willed to him so that he could open the door. 

Neither Magnus nor Alec had a glance to spare for the warlock who stood on their doorstep, too busy staring at the bundle in his arms.

“Mr’s. Lightwood-Bane. Are you going to invite us in or are we doing this out in the hallway?”

“Sorry, Mr. Night. Please come in,” Alec said when Magnus didn’t utter a word. A quick glance sideways at his husband revealed Magnus’ fear for a moment before it disappeared.

“Thank you. I just need you to sign the paperwork and I’ll be on my way,” Mr. Night said, brandishing a folder with his spare hand.

“Sure, can I…?” Alec held his arms out, smiling when the warlock acquiesced. 

“Of course. Mr. Lightwood-Bane, meet Ndara,” Mr. Night said, holding the baby girl out to the shadowhunter. 

Magnus watched his husband take their new daughter into his arms. A small pang of jealousy flashed through him when he saw how easily Alec held her to him. Nobody had to explain to Alec how to do it, his husband just knew. It was an irrational thought but he couldn’t deny that he’d had it.

Alec held his daughter in arms, already flooded with the wave of love that his mother had insisted would hit him like a tidal wave. She was small in his giant hands. Sturdy, at nine-months-old, but still tiny compared to him. 

The smile on Alec’s face hurt when she looked up at him, her eyes comically wide. “Beautiful,” he murmured, taking her in. She had the same beautiful golden skin tone as Magnus, her big brown eyes a similar shape to Magnus’ as well and a sweet mop of silky black hair that reached her tiny ears. And she smelled wonderful. 

“Indara?” Alec asked Magnus, trying to pronounce the Indonesian name the same way that the warlock had.

“En-da-ra. It means full moon,” Magnus sounded it out for his husband, his stomach fluttering a little when Alec repeated him slowly while pressing his nose to the thatch of black hair on the baby’s head. She was as beautiful as she was terrifying. He speculated that she had been born under a full moon as her name would indicate.

“The paperwork?” Mr. Night said, eyeing the baby as he waved his folder in Magnus’ face. When Magnus took the folder from his hand, he followed his fellow warlock to a table and chairs, dropping the bag of Ndara’s things on the floor. “There is a file on the mother included with her things. It is up to you if you wish to give it to her,” he said, sitting down in the offered chair.

Magnus took the pen when it was offered to him, his eyes flicking up when he heard a shrill giggle, to see Alec tickling the baby. They had been more than willing to adopt a child when news of the crisis had reached them nine months previously. 

When Jonathan Morgenstern had opened the rift between Edom and their own realm, nine months before that, a lot of demons had made it through and escaped into their realm.

The Clave had sought out those demons and destroyed every last one of them with the help of the Downworld. But not before the damage had been done. Nobody had realized just how much damage had been done until droves of mundane women had started giving birth to warlocks nine months later.

The warlock council, along with half of the Downworld, had descended into panic. It had taken a lot to keep it from the mundanes, not an easy feat when the women had turned up at mundane hospitals all over the world and birthed half-demon babies. Not all of the women had given their children up, a few keeping them. But a lot had. And not all of the women had escaped the births with their lives.

So Magnus and Alec had put themselves forward to take on one of the children. They had been wallowing quite far down the list until Alec had been offered his prestigious position six months earlier and he had accepted the position of first High Warlock of Alicante. 

After meeting with one of the warlocks who was running one of the makeshift orphanages, she had confessed that they had been bumped up the list in the hopes that others would follow suit. After all, they were now two of the most highest-ranking members of the Shadow World. An example for others to follow.

Neither of them had been surprised by the tactic but it had taken nine long months for the warlock council to make the mundanes forget that it had happened, and then for them to match children to prospective adopters.

In those nine months, Magnus had gone through every emotion that it was possible to feel. Now, looking over at Alec and Ndara, all he felt was uncertainty. Not about Ndara, she would need them. But about his own ability to be the kind of father for her that she needed. Or rather, for him not to be the kind of father he himself had had. 

“Mr. Bane… Lightwood-Bane. If you don’t sign the paperwork, I won’t be able to leave the child with you,” Mr. Night said, seeing Magnus hesitate. His gaze flicked to the baby once more.

Alec crossed the room when he heard Mr. Night’s words, searching his husband’s face. When Magnus looked up at him, worry stamped across his Warlock’s face, he handed Ndara over to Mr. Night. It wrenched at his gut already to hand her over but he did it anyway and pulled Magnus away.

“If you’re not ready…” Alec started when they reached the hallway.

“Do you think I’m going to take her away from you, Alexander, hm?” Magnus asked.

“Guilt isn’t a reason to adopt a child,” Alec said, taking Magnus’ hand. “You can’t agree to this to keep me happy, Magnus. That isn’t fair to any of us.”

“It has nothing to do with guilt. I’m just… what if I fuck it up? Fuck her up? She doesn’t deserve…” Magnus tried before Alec cut him off.

“Doesn’t deserve someone who is already worried about not being good enough for her?” Alec asked, pulling Magnus into a hug. “You know how I know you’ll be a good father?” he whispered in Magnus’ ear.

Magnus clutched the back of Alec’s sweater a lot tighter than he meant to when his arms wrapped around Alec’s waist. He didn’t answer but Alec continued anyway.

“Because you haven’t even held her yet and you already want what is best for her, even if it’s not you. You already care enough to worry about her, to see all of the ways you will fuck up,” Alec said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The thought was absurd to him.

“But you’re kind and generous. You love with everything you have inside you. You protect those you care about and those you don’t even know, with your life. You’d rather die than see someone close to you hurting…” Alec trailed off when Magnus pulled back and rolled his eyes.

“You aren’t him, Magnus,” Alec said, cutting off Magnus’ reply. “You’re nothing like him, you never could be. And if you can protect one child from having the same upbringing that you did, you would do it in a heartbeat. If now isn’t the right time, then it isn’t the right time. But don’t ever doubt that you would be an amazing father that any child would be lucky to have,” he said.

Magnus cupped Alec’s cheek, seeing the honesty in his wide hazel eyes when he gazed into them. Replacing his hand with his lips, he pressed a kiss to Alec’s cheek before tugging Alec back into the living room. Alec had the uncanny ability to make the few words that he spoke, count.

Alec clutched Magnus’ hand in his own, trying not to look at Ndara. If Magnus said no, he would give her up. Even if she was the most beautiful thing, alongside Magnus, that he had ever laid eyes on. He could do that for his husband.

Magnus took the pen and signed on the dotted line that Mr. Night had so helpfully marked with an X before handing the pen over to Alec. He smiled when Alec didn’t hesitate.

“Congratulations,” Mr. Knight said, scrawling a signature of his own under those of Magnus and Alec. “I’ll have a copy of these sent to you for your records,” he said. 

Magnus accepted the heavy bag that Mr. Night handed him, wondering what the warlock’s hurry was when the guy practically threw the baby at Alec.

“Enjoy your new daughter. She will be due for something to eat fairly soon. She has an impressive appetite,” Mr. Knight said, hurrying toward the door. 

“Wait, are you sure she’s a warlock?” Magnus asked, eyes sweeping over the baby, who had taken a handful of Alec’s hair in hand, trying to tug it toward her mouth. She didn’t seem to have any distinguishing marks.

“Oh yes, I’m quite sure. Good day,” Mr. Knight said, hot-footing it out of the door, paperwork clutched in his hand.

“That was abrupt,” Magnus said, closing the door with a wave of his hands. Glancing up, he met Alec’s gaze, wondering what they were supposed to do now. The baby was staring intently at him, or rather, the bag that he held so he decided to sort through her stuff.

Alec joined Magnus at the table, watching Magnus unload the bag that Mr. Night had given them over Magnus’ shoulder. When Ndara started grizzling, he raised his hand, smiling when Ndara’s tiny fingers wrapped around one of his. He almost yanked his hand back when she gipped his finger tightly and stuffed it in her mouth.

“She has teeth?” Magnus asked over his shoulder when he heard Alec’s sharp intake of breath.

“A couple,” Alec winced when her two tiny bottom teeth sank into his finger. The pain didn’t last long when she moved onto trying to chew his finger with her gums, drool sliding down his finger. He could feel something hard just below the surface of her gum, most likely another tooth.

Magnus emptied the bag out onto the table, finding everything he expected. Diapers and dresses, formula and wipes, a couple of tubes of various creams and bottles of baby soap, some pots of mushy stuff that he suspected was food, a half warm bottle, and at the bottom of the pile, a slim folder.

“Must be the file on the mother,” Magnus said, picking the folder up. He flipped it open and found a couple of sheets of paper. The first was instructions on what kind of food the baby liked, a brand of diapers that she was allergic to, and a list of baby products that they would need for her. They already had most of what was on the list in the nursery that they had prepared.

Alec’s stomach dropped when Ndara lurched forward, as though she was trying to get to the table. When he pulled her back and secured his grip on her she started crying. He realized that she had spotted the pots of food when she tried again, her eyes fixed determinedly on the mush.

“She’s smart. Here, hold her while I sort her dinner,” Alec said, trying to hand the baby to Magnus. His husband still hadn’t held their daughter yet.

“Oh, no need,” Magnus said, snapping his fingers after he checked the list of foods. The highchair that they had purchased appeared next to the table, along with a warm bowl of pureed carrot and turnip, and a warm bottle of formula. The sheet said that Ndara liked a bottle after her solid food.

Alec watched Magnus take a seat at the table and start reading through the file. He had to wonder where Magnus’ enthusiasm had disappeared to. They had gone through all the steps of preparing for a baby. Buying ridiculous amounts of clothes and equipment, strollers and toys. They’d had countless conversations, wondering whether they would get a boy or a girl.

Each of them had gone through the entire spectrum of emotions, feeling things they’d never expected. But Magnus hadn’t even touched the baby since she had arrived. 

“Do you want to feed her?” Alec asked, resting his hand on Magnus’ shoulder, feeling it stiffen beneath his touch.

“She seems content enough with you,” Magnus said, his eyes continuing to skim the information on Ndara’s mother. 

The woman, Melati, had been 20 years old and had gone to the hospital in Makassar, Indonesia, 37 weeks into her pregnancy with what she thought were stomach pains. She hadn’t realized that she was in labour until it was too late and had died during the birth, her body unable to cope with the stress. 

There was a single photo of her in the file. The woman was tiny, barely bigger than a child. It was obvious why the birth would have been so stressful on her. She had a certain beauty to her and looked like she was sleeping but Magnus knew that wasn’t the case, judging by Melati’s story.

Magnus felt terrible for her, unable to stop himself from wondering if she would have kept Ndara if she had survived. Would the woman have kept her daughter if she’d known that the baby was half-demon? Had the woman known that she had lain with a demon? Had she even had a choice? Or had she been tricked into thinking he was a loved one?

“You know, Madzie always prefers when you make her food. Maybe Ndara will be the same?” Alec asked, settling Ndara into her high chair and taking a seat. Her cries told him he wasn’t getting her food into her fast enough but he took a moment to taste the food, checking the temperature and that it was actually edible. It was bland but good.

“That’s because I give her ice cream,” Magnus chuckled.

“Besides the ice cream, you’re good with her,” Alec said, tugging the high chair between his and Magnus’ chairs, and spooning the first spoonful of carrot mush into Ndara’s mouth. 

A chuckle escaped Alec when she gobbled it down, leaning toward the bowl, her eyes never leaving the spoon when he scooped another small spoonful up. She was practically bouncing in her chair.

“Yes, well, we can give Madzie back at the end of the day,” Magnus said absently, closing the file over. The choking noise his husband made had his head snapping up, seeing he hurt on Alec’s face.

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that. That I want to... I meant that at the end of the day, when we’ve babysat Madzie, we hand her back to Catarina. Sure, we look after her, but Catarina is the one who is responsible for raising her. It’s Catarina who Madzie relies on. We’re just the babysitters,” Magnus said, watching Alec go back to feeding the baby. 

Frustration welled up in Magnus. He kept saying it wrong, sounding like he didn’t care about Madzie when he really did. “I meant Madzie is bigger. She doesn’t need us to feed her or change her diapers…”

“I know what you meant,” Alec interjected, looking up at Magnus over Ndara’s head. Magnus was still doubting himself, still worried that he wouldn’t be enough for Ndara, that he would fail to meet her needs. He was just saying it wrong.  _ Maybe he hasn’t touched her because he’s afraid of breaking her _ , he wondered.

Magnus watched, a little forlornly, as Alec easily scooped some more food into the baby’s mouth, scraping the spoon against her lips to capture anything she might spit out. Entertaining children was easy enough, a coloring book, the odd story, and a few magic tricks were all Madzie ever really demanded of them. Instinctively knowing what a baby needed, and being able to provide it sufficiently was something else entirely.

Something that Alec seemed to have no trouble with, apparently. Magnus, on the other hand, doubted that he had such skill. He had never spent that much time around babies. He had wanted to help, as he always did; when news of the baby warlocks had spread. But what if she didn’t like him? What if he got it wrong?

Magnus was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn’t notice when something wrapped around his fingers at first. Something small and slim. When he did notice, he thought for a moment that the baby had wrapped her fingers around his, as she had with Alec.

When Magnus looked down at his hand, however, he realized that that wasn’t the case. He lurched back in his chair when he saw a snake wrapped around his fingers, almost collapsing to the floor. 

“Alexander!” Magnus breathed. The golden snake had slithered out of the sleeve of Ndara’s green dress.

Alec snatched a dagger from his thigh holster instinctively, the glamour that usually hid his weapons falling. All he saw was a snake wrapped around his daughter’s arm.

“No!” Magnus yelled, causing the baby to jump, her chin wobbling. Waving his hand, he erected a barrier around Ndara, flinging Alec across the room when Alec lunged. He barely had a second to think about what had happened, staring at what he had thought was a snake. It wasn’t a snake. It was… a tentacle. With little suckers on the underside, clinging to his fingers.

“Magnus? Is she okay? Are you?” Alec asked, dragging himself up off the floor. His dagger had skidded across the floor when he’d crashed into the wall, and a dull ache in his shoulder told him he’d hit hard. But he made no move to retrieve the dagger when he looked at Magnus and Ndara.

“We’re okay. Alexander, I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?” Magnus asked, taking his eyes off of the baby for a minute to check on Alec. The barrier and the blast had been totally instinctual. He hadn’t meant to hurt his husband.

“Fine,” Alec muttered, already reaching blindly for his stele as he crossed the room. Blindly, because he couldn’t take his eyes off of his daughter. “What are they?” he asked, gesturing to the two snake-like appendages that had pushed out of the sleeves of Ndara’s dress. There were two more, wrapping around the baby’s legs, slithering out of the bottom of it.

“They’re tentacles,” Magnus said, gently prying the tentacle off his hand and snapping his fingers. 

Ndara’s dress disappeared, leaving her sitting in just a diaper and a pair of frilly green socks, in her high chair. There were several tentacles that poked out from behind her back, just above the top of her diaper. She had gotten over the shock, looking back and forth between Magnus and Alec.

“I think it’s her warlock mark,” Magnus said, finding his seat.

Alec sank into his chair, watching his daughter’s… tentacles, slither over the tray that was attached to her high chair. His mouth fell open when Ndara’s hands and tentacles dug into the bowl of carrot mush. Most of it ended up in the baby’s mouth but a good deal of it found it’s way onto his shirt and face.

“I didn’t even feel them. When I was holding her I mean,” Alec said, a little shell shocked. He wondered if this was why Mr. Night had been so bent on them signing the paperwork as soon as possible. 

“Hey, do you think Night was trying to get us to sign quickly in case we changed our minds when we saw them?” Alec asked furiously, scooping Ndara into his arms. He wrapped his hands around her ribcage, holding her under her armpits so she could stand on his thighs. Her legs were strong. 

“I wouldn’t put it past him. Some warlocks are snobs when it comes to warlock marks. He certainly seemed eager to get out of here,” Magnus said, kneeling down on the floor next to Alec’s chair. When Alec had managed to secure a hold on Ndara, the baby bouncing up and down, he leaned in to inspect them.

“I think they retract,” Magnus said, brushing his fingers over the base of one of the tentacles. It wasn’t a smooth join as he had first thought, but rather, the tentacle seemed to have emerged from a round hole in her skin. There were several of the holes dotted around the base of her spine and her hips, tentacles sticking out of them. When he touched the tentacle, it did indeed retract.

“They do. I think that’s why you didn’t feel them. Look,” Magnus said, showing Alec how the skin closed smoothly when the tentacle had disappeared into Ndara’s body. A moment later, the tentacle reemerged, breaking through the skin.

“Do you think it hurts her?” Alec asked, not bothering to hide his worry. Not that they could do anything about it if it did.

“No, she seems happy enough,” Magnus replied, looking up at Ndara. When Alec turned her around and sat her in his lap, she yanked on one of the tentacles, stuffing the carrot covered appendage into her mouth. The action made him laugh. They were going to have to watch her like a hawk, careful of what she put in her mouth.

Magnus’ stomach dropped when Ndara bit down on the tentacle. Her eyes widened in shock before her chin started trembling. When she started screaming, he took her smooth tentacle in hand, sending his magic into it to heal the tiny teeth marks away. She hadn’t broken skin and was probably more upset by the shock than any hurt.

Half of Alec wanted to scoop the poor tentacle up and kiss it better, to wipe his daughter’s tears away, the feeling pulsing through his veins. The soft expression on Magnus’ face, however, kept him from doing just that. His heart gave a little stutter when he heard the soothing, sympathetic noises his husband was making.

When Ndara reached for his hands, Magnus’ first instinct was to pull them away. Which was absurd, she was a warlock, his magic wouldn’t hurt her. So he let her grab his hand, a delighted giggle wiping her tears away.  _ If only it was that easy to forget pain,  _ he thought with a smile. She seemed to have forgotten she had hurt herself, too busy trying to grab at the blue glow that surrounded his hand.

“Mealtimes are going to be messy,” Magnus said, glancing up at Alec and Ndara. They were both covered in mashed carrot.

“You think?” Alec chuckled, picking a dollop of carrot out of Ndara’s hair. She was covered. So was he for that matter. Digging through the supplies that had been sent with their daughter, he found a bottle of baby wash and stood, carrying the baby into the kitchen when Magnus rose to his feet.

Magnus followed Alec, an amused grin tugging at the corners of his lips when Alec started filling their butler sink with warm water. Later on, when Alec would tell anyone who would listen that Ndara’s first bath was in their kitchen sink, he would deny wholeheartedly that he hovered like a worried mother hen. But that was exactly what he did.

After testing the water, Alec pulled Ndara’s diaper off and sat her up in the sink. The expression on Magnus’ face when he handed his husband the diaper was hilarious. Not as hilarious as when the baby started splashing the water all over them with her tentacles.

Magnus had a series of mini heart attacks. After discarding the diaper, thankfully only a wet one, with a wave of his hand, he continued to hover and panic when Alec washed the baby’s hair and body. He was convinced that she was going to drown or swallow the soap or fall down the trash compacter. His ancient ass could barely take it, even if Alec did keep a hand on her at all times.

“Magnus, get your phone out,” Alec said, elbowing Magnus in the ribs. He wanted his husband to capture the masterpiece that was the baby’s inch long hair, spiked up with the suds.

Magnus dutifully snapped a couple of pictures of the baby, inwardly melting at how cute she looked when she looked up at him, tentacles still splashing away, suds everywhere. He was pretty sure there were rules about taking pictures of babies in baths but everything was covered and he angled the camera so that he could only see her head over the edge of the sink.

“Spikes, just like your Papa,” Alec whispered to the baby, as he ran his hand through the soapy spikes on her head. He didn’t hear the indrawn breath behind him as he dipped his daughter back and gently rinsed her head with a couple of handfuls of water. 

“How did you get so good at this?” Magnus asked shakily, watching Ndara’s eyelids flutter closed with Alec’s gentle ministrations. He had heard Alec call him Papa but it still felt surreal. 

“I was fifteen when Mom had Max, remember. I took my big brother duties very seriously,” Alec said, rinsing all traces of suds out of Ndara’s soft hair. When she was sud free, he scooped her out of the water and turned expectantly to Magnus.

Magnus took a step back but Alec wouldn’t let him off that easily, moving with him. He just had time to snap his fingers and produce a towel before Alec very firmly placed the baby in his arms. Wrapping the towel around her, he panicked for a moment when Alec let go.

Alec strode from the room when Magnus had hold of their daughter. He had given Magnus two options, take hold of her or let her crash to the floor. Not for a second had he doubted that Magnus wouldn’t let her fall.

“Where are you going?” Magnus asked, following Alec quickly from the kitchen. He tightened his grip around the baby when her tentacles retracted, holding her around her middle. Alec was leaving him alone.

“I need to shower,” Alec said over his shoulder, heading for their bedroom. “And pee,” he added when he saw Magnus raise his hand. Magnus could clean him up in an instant. What his husband couldn’t do was magically empty his bladder.

Magnus blinked down at the baby in his arms, at a loss as to what to do with her. The water that dripped into her eyes gave him something to focus on. Gathering Ndara more securely in his arms, he rubbed the towel over her head and body, drying her while he made his way to her nursery, next door to their room.

Magically putting a diaper on her when she was dry, Magnus rifled through the drawers of clothes that they had bought for her, finding a yellow dress that looked about her size. “I’m guessing you can’t wear a onesie?” he asked the baby, thinking of how her tentacles had escaped the bottom of her dress earlier. A onesie would be too restrictive.

“Don’t want to squash your tentacles,” Magnus said softly as he wrestled the dress onto the baby. It took a few goes to get all body parts where they were supposed to be, especially when Ndara stiffened her body and arms when he tried to push them through the sleeve holes. He considered using a crowbar at that point, she was strong!

Magnus finally got her arms in, which was a victory but then she started crying. Which was not.  _ Surely Alec must be finished by now _ , he thought, carrying Ndara back into the hallway. Bouncing Ndara in his arms, he peeked into their bedroom but the shower was still running.

“I don’t know what you want,” Magnus said to the baby, ducking back into the living room. Maybe the instructions would tell him. 

Except nothing jumped out at him when he picked up the file and flipped through it. When Ndara stopped crying, he looked down to see that her tentacles had once again reemerged and were heading for the bottle of formula still on the table.

It was still warm when Magnus picked it up but he didn’t know if it would be warm enough. Or too warm. While he was deliberating, Ndara’s tentacles shot out and wrapped around the bottle. “I guess you’ll let me know, hm?” he asked, watching her stuff the teet into her mouth. When she didn’t scream or spit the milk out, he relaxed a little and let her lie in his arms.

Magnus took hold of the bottle when it slipped a few times, watching the baby like a hawk so that she didn’t choke. She started guzzling it down, her tentacles wrapping around his arm. Probably to stop him from removing the bottle. He couldn’t deny that he found it unbearably cute when they tightened around his bicep.

A smile played over Magnus’ face. When Mr. Night had said that she had a healthy appetite, he hadn’t been wrong. He looked into the baby’s eyes when she gazed up at him, marveling at how she trusted him to hold her and feed her, lying calmly in his arms, just looking right back at him.

She was just like him, Magnus realized. A warlock, not even come into her powers yet but with so much potential at her fingertips. A half-demon with a mark that set her apart from others. A little Indonesian orphan, left without a mother to protect her. Maybe she had a demon father who would come looking for her one day.

Magnus vowed never to let whoever it was near her. He didn’t know who the demon was but he had been dealing with demons his entire life and if there was one thing he had learned, it was that they should never be trusted with children. If he had had someone there to protect him from Asmodeus, his life could have been a lot different.

Those thoughts inevitably led Magnus to think about Ndara’s mother. Would the baby blame herself for Melati’s death when she found out the circumstances? He had spent centuries blaming himself for his own mother’s death and knew what that burden did to a person.

“Itu bukan salahmu, gadis manis,” Magnus murmured, his pinky sweeping out over Ndara’s smooth golden cheek. He promised himself that he would tell her that every day. That it wasn’t her fault. That there was nothing that she could have done to save her mother. There was no way he was letting his daughter grow up with that guilt weighing her down.

Magnus watched his daughter's eyelids flutter as he stroked back and forth over her cheek, the pulls of the bottle becoming more spaced out. He bounced her a little, only realizing that he had been moving the entire time he had been feeding her when he looked up and found himself looking out of the balcony doors over Alicante.

Something soft and smooth, brushing at his cheek, had Magnus looking down to find one of Ndara’s tentacles rubbing against his face. She stopped sucking on the bottle, her mouth going slack around the teet, her pretty eyes closed. The tentacle slowly curled over her stomach, looking for all the world like it too was settling in for sleep. 

“I know what you were doing, Alexander,” Magnus said softly when Alec came up behind him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was taking a shower,” Alec said, looking over Magnus’ shoulder at their daughter.

“Mhm,” Magnus murmured, gently tugging the bottle out of Ndara’s grasp. Her fingers and tentacles tightened for a moment before she let it go, her plump pink lips still curved into the perfect O shape when he tugged the teat out of her mouth.

“Did it work?” Alec asked, taking the bottle and wrapping his arms around his family.

“Yes, it worked. She is beautiful, isn’t she?” Magnus asked, sweeping a hand through Ndara’s hair to flatten it before it dried any further.

“She’s perfect. Like her Papa,” Alec said with a grin. He had been watching them from the doorway, watching Magnus get to know their daughter.

“She has managed to worm her way into my heart without even doing anything, just like her daddy,” Magnus said, giving up on trying to flatten her hair.

“I text the family and asked them to come over, I didn’t realize she would fall asleep. They're on their way. Catarina said she’ll swing by on her way from picking Madzie up from school and Raphael said he’d try and come by too. I didn’t tell them, just said we had some news,” Alec said.

“Your Mom is going to lose it when she sees her,” Magnus said, grinning at the image of Maryse clapping eyes on her new granddaughter.

“Do you think we should wake her up?” Alec asked, reaching around to fuss over his daughter’s dress. Maybe his mother’s yells would startle her.

“Let her sleep for now. She will need to be rested for when they descend on her. Won’t you, my sweet little calamari?” Magnus said softly. They could enjoy the quiet time now, just the three of them, before the rest of their family showed up to meet their daughter.

**Author's Note:**

> I had to give Ndara a food nickname on Magnus' behalf


End file.
